The strategy and decision of management is to eventually not have a region code separation, especially in regards to next generation discs. If discs are priced much higher in Japan than in the US, it will create importation issues.

So their plan is to go region-free and then charge every market the same prices as the most expensive one, because following the prevailing standards might cut into their profits. Well, that's just heart-warming. And it also has no bearing on their charging $20 per episode now. This boils down to "we're milking you so you'll be used to it and won't complain as much when we want to milk you more later on."). Bite me, BV. I'm getting gladder by the day that I decided to stick with my Gunbuster VHSes.

if BV wants to treat US market as same as Japanese, let them know to keep the audio track same as well...

I completely agree, it's as if BV want to give us a very similar release as the Japanese yet they changed something....I guess it's to prevent reverse importing.

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If discs are priced much higher in Japan than in the US, it will create importation issues.

Not really my concern that your taking advantage of the Japanese market, but when no one buys your discs don't say that no one wanted Wing of Rean, Gunbuster, Freedom, etc etc. The economics of America and Japan are quite wide, and how Anime fans spent their money differs from Japanese....

but if the Bandai Visual was doing same treatment with US release as well as Japanese, why is there no 5.1 audio track for Gunbuster?

I bought Japanese release of Gunbuster/Gunbuster 2 collection for 5.1 Japanese audio...

but when I got US version of Gunbuster, I was dissapointed at lack of 5.1 audio...

if BV wants to treat US market as same as Japanese, let them know to keep the audio track same as well...

Gunbuster never had a 5.1 track in Japan either. The compilation movie had a re-recorded track but since the movie is a heavily cut version it would obviously not work to port that audio track back to the full OAV episodes. A better question is to ask why the music was changed for the R1 DVD but not the R2 or any other edition.

People always put too much emphasis on price and not enough on the quality of the product. All the volumes will be coming with extensive extras and beautiful collector's books.

Also lets not get riduclous no one actually pays full price for a dvd so $40 is the equivalent to $20 online especially when you take account of DDD's 20% off sale.

I want QUALITY not QUANTITY like all those people who only jump on cheap thinpacks of C and D grade shows. You know it wasn't that long ago when people were paying over a $100 for Tenchi Muyo Ultimate Collection or $80 dollars for Heroic of Arslan boxset. Go even further back and VHS would cost around $39.95 each. This was before online discounts were even an option.

Today's fans are just spoilt rotten and whiney for the sake of it. It's always the same issues that get brought up. Why is anime fandom so leaned to the negative rather than the positive these days? It never used to be like this.

People always put too much emphasis on price and not enough on the quality of the product. All the volumes will be coming with extensive extras and beautiful collector's books.

But . . . not everyone WANTS all that stuff. I want discs with episodes, and that's it. I was so excited about the Gunbuster release--I was all set to preorder it and everything. Then they announced the big fancy schmancy box and how it was jacking the price up to $65 for six episodes, and all of a sudden my excitement was crushed. The same thing happened with the Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu releases - I want a BOX, but I don't need a box with drawers and half the Haruhi merchandise ever made. Now I'm going to buy the regular releases and forego the box just to save myself the extra expense. If all the extras are worth it to consumers, then yes, the price will be fair to them. I don't see any reason to pay more money for products I don't even want, however.

As for the price of VHS, yes, they WERE expensive. And yes, now we have DVDs with more content, so it does seem like a "deal" to pay the same $40 price as on an old VHS tape if you look at it that way. However, Bandai is (as far as I know--Geneon may come close) the ONLY distributor trying to charge the R2 price in the R1 market. If other companies aren't having trouble with that, why would Bandai? Part of the difference is that Bandai actually does operate in both countries whereas many American companies simply import, but American companies ARE getting more involved in production, so that point is becoming moot. Further, look at Viz, which is rather closely related to Shueisha--Viz's prices are more than reasonable regardless. Why would I pay $65 to buy six episodes from Bandai when I can pay $40 to buy thirteen from Viz? You could give the "differences in licensing costs" line, which might have SOME credibility because Viz likely gets a substantial discount on licensing Shueisha properties, but I'm fairly sure (correct me if I'm wrong) that Naruto or Prince of Tennis likely cost more than Gunbuster.

Today's fans are just spoilt rotten and whiney for the sake of it. It's always the same issues that get brought up. Why is anime fandom so leaned to the negative rather than the positive these days? It never used to be like this.

We are absolutely not living in the same market today that we were living in 10 years ago. Anime has found a much more economical balance in the North American market since then, and it never would have been able to grow otherwise.

I don't care what extra crap they throw in, 2 episodes of any series, subtitled only, and likely crippled in some subtle way to prevent reverse importation is absolutely not worth $40 US, or whatever minimal discount the discs would be given by retailers. (And something like Gunbuster 2 would be a bit closer to $30 US in stores like Best Buy, not $20.) Keep in mind that releases from companies like Geneon are of comparable quality (and FUNimation, more so as time goes by), with a dub to boot.

I seriously don't believe for a second that the prices given to many releases, especially for TV series', are in any way adequate in Japan. They've essentially brainwashed that market into believing that $70+ is the "correct" cost for Lame, Fan-Pandering Moe Series B with no extras, even if you are just a collector. Honestly, I have to commend people in Japan who are smart enough to do reverse-importation, since anyone actually falling into this faulty pricing is clearly delusional.

I don't suppose anyone actually bothered to mention fansubs at this panel? I'd love to see how these guys would react to that particular topic.

I agree, I just want good anime. I'm buying Gunbuster, Wings of Honneamise and probably Freedom.

Are you an HD-DVD completist or something? I'm shocked that anyone would consider paying $80 for a single movie.

EDIT: I also don't think that complaining about the first Gunbuster OVA's price point is fair. Indeed, I was one of the first to defend it in the past. Had it been after BV changed their pricing structure, I'm sure we would've seen a Galaxy Angel Rune-like release: three volumes, $40-50 each. *THAT* would've been unfair.

Last edited by Ragebot on Sat Apr 21, 2007 2:18 pm; edited 2 times in total

People always put too much emphasis on price and not enough on the quality of the product. All the volumes will be coming with extensive extras and beautiful collector's books.

Agree as long as there up to the quality that came with the Patlabor DVDs, which I doubt each release will have. BV should have strip down version of these series available, even if there staggered releases where the LE comes out a month or two before the bare bones just episode or movie version.

Agree as long as there up to the quality that came with the Patlabor DVDs, which I doubt each release will have. BV should have strip down version of these series available, even if there staggered releases where the LE comes out a month or two before the bare bones just episode or movie version.

All that Galaxy Angel Rune will have with it is a booklet. That's it. No Patlabor-esque packaging there. Hell, they're not even doing starter sets.

Unlike combo HD DVD releases which have an HD version on one side of the disc and the regular DVD version on the other, twin formats have both versions on the same side of the disc, allowing for there to still be disc art.

But this means I could play it on a regular player, right? I haven't taken sides on the format war.

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In the question and answer section, when asked about why Bandai Visual USA was releasing titles as subtitled-only, Maeda mentioned that in a focus group survey, most had mentioned that they watched their anime subtitled.

Looks like those companies shoving their, "But fans buy dubs more" bs pr down my throat all these years can eat some crow. The only reason people were buying dubs more often than subs in the vhs days was because the dubs were cheaper. Screw, you, too, Kahn.

Area88:

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People always put too much emphasis on price and not enough on the quality of the product. All the volumes will be coming with extensive extras and beautiful collector's books.

Isn't that what they said about Working Designs before it folded?

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You know it wasn't that long ago when people were paying over a $100 for Tenchi Muyo Ultimate Collection or $80 dollars for Heroic of Arslan boxset.

Those were still better deals than what BV's giving us.

la_contessa:

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The same thing happened with the Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu releases - I want a BOX, but I don't need a box with drawers and half the Haruhi merchandise ever made. Now I'm going to buy the regular releases and forego the box just to save myself the extra expense.

I think that has to do with Bandai Entertainment demanding the Japanese side give in on as many of their extras as possible, as to help alleviate the butt-raping they were getting from paying an exorbitant fee for a show which might end up being another Azumanga Daioh, rather than an Onegai Whatever.

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Further, look at Viz, which is rather closely related to Shueisha--Viz's prices are more than reasonable regardless. Why would I pay $65 to buy six episodes from Bandai when I can pay $40 to buy thirteen from Viz?

They're not reasonable for out-of-order Ranma episodes with no music lyrics. Or Prince of Tennis with no original music cues. (Not that Gunbuster's better, in that regard, but at least you only pay for that one once...)

Pepperidge:

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Anime has found a much more economical balance in the North American market since then, and it never would have been able to grow otherwise.

Anime's become cheaper, because there have been more people who wanted to buy it since the early 90s. I can actually justify some of the price-jacking going on with BV, since I know Honneamise is going to be niche. I will agree that the higher prices should be more reasonable, though. If BV is gonna go that route, they probably should try to get some shelf space near Criterion. I also don't see who's gonna pay that much for shows no one's heard of, like Rean or Enma. If they'd done the research, they'd realize no one's buying Go Nagai or Dunbine. If you're going to charge that much, do it for more high-profile titles.

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I don't suppose anyone actually bothered to mention fansubs at this panel? I'd love to see how these guys would react to that particular topic.

Who the hell would sit through a fansub of Honneamise, outside of a couple of
nostalgic otaku? Hell, I couldn't even bother with the legal version of the film.

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